No go for green lawsuit

No go for green lawsuit

JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta State Administrative Court dismissed
yesterday a lawsuit filed by five environmental activists against
President Soeharto for his plan to divert huge sums of
reforestation funds to a private pulp and paper company.

Presiding Judge Lintong Oloan Siahaan said his court did not
have the authority to pass judgment on the constitutionality of
any presidential decree.

Nurul Almy Hafild, executive director of the Indonesian Forum
For Environment (Walhi), and four other Walhi members had filed
the lawsuit requesting the court to annul Presidential Decree
No.93/1996 which granted Rp 250 billion (US$105 million) to PT
Kiani Kertas to help finance the development of a $1 billion pulp
and paper mill in Berau Regency, East Kalimantan.

Bambang Widjojanto, chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid
Institute, who is representing the plaintiffs said his clients
were still considering whether to appeal against the decision.

PT Kiani Kertas, a subsidiary of the Kalimanis Group owned by
tycoon Mohamad "Bob" Hasan, is developing a 500,000-ton-a-year-
mill on a 3,400 hectares. The mill is due to start operating this
year.

The plaintiffs cited the 1982 Environmental Law which
guarantees that every one has the right to a good and healthy
living environment and has the duty to preserve and prevent it
from being polluted and destroyed.

They said the Berau pulp and paper project threatened the
environment with toxic air pollution. (05)